World economic growth - still made in China

Despite all the hand-wringing over China's slower economic growth, the Chinese economy remains the single largest contributor to world GDP growth. For a global economy limping along at stall speed - and most likely unable to withstand a significant shock without toppling into renewed recession - that contribution is all the more important.

A few numbers bear this out. If Chinese GDP growth reaches 6.7 percent in 2016 - in line with the government's official target and only slightly above the International Monetary Fund's latest prediction of 6.6 percent - China would account for 1.2 percentage points of world GDP growth. With the IMF currently expecting only 3.1 percent global growth this year, China would contribute nearly 39 percent of the total.

That share dwarfs the contribution of other major economies. For example, while the United States is widely praised for a solid recovery, its GDP is expected to grow by just 2.2 percent in 2016 - enough to contribute just 0.3 percentage points to overall world GDP growth, or only about one-fourth of the contribution made by China.